


Change

by Cirenegs



Series: Riley's journey through the MCU [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Original Character(s), Riley Romanoff (OC)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2020-10-29 18:10:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20800766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cirenegs/pseuds/Cirenegs
Summary: A story of a girl who gets a chance, after a certain spy sees her. Riley's earliest memories and new life.





	1. The alley

**Berlin, early 2009**

Had it been hours since she ate? No, that’s wrong. It had been days since she last ate something. The man of the store had been kind enough to give her some food and clothes, he always tried to make her speak, asking her if her parents were looking for her or if they were gone. 

She couldn´t remember. _She had parents? She had a home?** Where?**_ Someone waiting for her with food and clothes as delicious and comfortable as the one the man gave her? Every day was the same: wake up, walk by and see people looking funny at her, going back to the alley, go to sleep. 

She knew there was a good reason as to why she didn’t want to return. She felt scared, not knowing why, but she shivered when trying to remember, as if something really bad had happened. The little girl pretended to play with a can, it was her own little world and no other than the kind man could get into it. The can was her friend, she had hours of fun imagining adventures outside the alley, something waiting for her in the world.

But for now, she would remain in her alley. 

A speeding car startled her. Actually, three speeding cars startled her. One of them crashed the other and the third one slowed down, men in uniform getting out of it and yelling at the other cars. She hid behind trash, it was quite the ruckus out there. The men and women were trying to look, curious about all the noise, leaving their stores and houses, to step on the sidewalk. 

A guy was arrested, mumbling curses to himself. She saw a tattoo in his neck and his bloody nose as they handcuffed him. The girl tried to suppress a grimace at the blood on the people that got taken out of the cars that cashed. As more curious people left their houses to watch, she lost sight of the street. She tried to move left and right to no avail. She passed a bit, not wanting to step out, yet, feeling dawned to the street. 

She abandoned her alley and looked as some guys in black took the man into custody _(is that the right word? She didn´t know)_, an ambulance appeared and treated every injury in the scene. She saw some of the local people asking the man with a bow what happened. He said in English how he couldn’t understand them and called a red head who was nearby. She explained the situation quickly: a man was smuggling illegal weapons and had to be detained. 

Inside the alley, there were no screams, no blood nor colors. There was no destruction nor creation. There was only trash and her. The girl was amazed at the colors in the street, the different clothes everyone used and the car that had crashed. It was a shame it was destroyed, but she could notice it had been a nice model while it lasted. She approached the car and touched it a bit. She saw something shining in the street, the windows’ glasses shinned with the light reflecting on them. Was this how the world acted outside of her alley?

A hand in her shoulder almost made her scream. The guy with the bow asked her were her parents were, just like everyone. She denied with her head, he thought she couldn’t understand him like the others, and the girl kept looking at the car, sensing something wrong, she had to keep looking, something had dragged her out of the alley finally and it was calling her to check the car. She was about to give up and return to her home until she notices something red inside, making a clicking sound. A clock was counting backwards, her eyes widened and she tried to gain the man’s attention, grabbing him by his belt and shoving him the inside of the car so he could take a look. The man screamed at his partners and everyone fled the scene, except for her.

“C’mon!” The man ran back to her and carried her away. She felt like flying for a few seconds. A minute later, the car exploded. Some screamed, others tried to shield themselves, but almost everyone was left unscathed. 

She kept looking at the flames, she was standing there a few minutes ago. The place changed so quickly, not like the alley that remained the same. The man called her again and she looked at him, raising her eyebrows. He crouched to her level and smiled at her. “Next time, run as far as you can if you see that, okay?” He said with an amused smile. The girl nodded. 

“Is she lost?” Asked someone behind the little girl. The man told her about his failed attempts at making her talk until the nice man of the store passed by, smiling at her and explaining in what ways he could how the girl had appeared out of nowhere a few months ago. He also stated that she wasn’t part of the local orphanage, they had never seen her before the man took her there. Also, they didn’t have enough space, so the girl kept living in the alley. He also stated that whenever he tried to take the girl home with his wife, the girl would just return to the alley. 

The red head looked at her, the girl was a little scared by her gaze, her gaze dropped to her feet, bare and hurt by glass, on the street. The woman crouched to her level.

“Hey, are you alone?” The girl nodded, still not looking her in the eye. She felt intimidated. She wanted to return to the alley. “C’mon, take my hand.” She looked up, frowning a bit. The red head smiled and slowly, the girl did as she was told, the woman inspected if she had any injures and noticed some marks in her arms. “Who did this to you, sweetie?” The girl did not answer, not because she didn’t want to, but because she couldn’t quite tell what had happened. Her eyes traveled to the long marks and scars on her arm. “Do you have any family?” Another denial. 

The woman clicked her tongue and stood up, making her walk with her. The girl felt scared, they were getting far from the alley. “Come with me, I’ll help you, okay?” The girl was surprised. Sure, there were people like the nice man from the store that helped her, but sometimes it took them weeks to like her. She was a stranger, they just met. This didn’t go unnoticed by the woman, who smiled at her. “Okay, let’s go.”

As they abandoned the alley far behind, the girl knew it may have been the last time she would see it. With a silent goodbye, she turned and got in a car with the redhead and the arrow guy.


	2. Choices and movies

These were the facts she got until now. 

The woman’s name was Natasha. The weird guy’s name was Clint. They were good friends, she could tell from their joking attitude towards each other. They were working for some badass guys that saved the world, hence, the car chase and the crash. That’s all she knew. All they would tell her, actually, and she was too scared to ask questions. 

She had finally left the alley, she didn’t want to return so soon. 

“What’s your name?” Asked Clint besides her in the doctor’s office, the girl was swinging her legs back and forth, looking around. Natasha told her she had to be checked. She didn’t explain why, though. For the last four days, they had been in large buildings, talking to more guys in black, they had taken a picture of her, and as a last stop, they went to the doctor. 

Seeing as the girl didn’t answered, Clint kept talking. “You don’t know?” She denied with her head. “What about Claire?” No response. “Nat junior?” She made a face, trying to remember hard if that was really her name. He took it wrong, though. “Yeah, I wouldn’t want to be called that either.”

The red head entered just in time and hit him. The girl’s eyebrows went up. “Clint, stop messing with her.” Natasha then smiled at her and put her hands on her shoulders. “The doctor said we can leave the hospital in a few minutes and then we’ll go to USA.” The girl raised an eyebrow, not quite understanding the situation. “You don’t mind living with me for a while, don’t you?” 

She looked down at her hands, a little nervous. A million thoughts came to her, wondering who she was and if someone would miss her. She wondered if the nice man of the store wouldn’t mind, he was the closest thing she had for a friend. She knew she didn’t want to return to the alley, but her world had become so big and she couldn’t take more big spaces. She felt safe in the small world she had. 

She looked at the others in the room. Suddenly, it all went away, she was going with someone that obviously cared enough. She just hoped it would go great and it could be permanent. 

Natasha and Clint continued talking about business when some quiet footsteps were heard. The girl hugged her and finally talked. “Thank you, Natasha.” At last, she felt something growing inside her. She couldn’t describe it immediately, it took her years to understand it was **hope**. 

\-------

It was her first time on a plane that she remembered now. She was really excited and frightened, she suspected it must have been her first time on one at all. Natasha guided her to an empty seat and fastened her seatbelt, explaining minor things to her before going to talk to the pilot. Clint was reading a magazine in front of her, something about a celebrity, a genius man who was a playboy was written on the cover. Natasha came by and sat next to her, saying that they were about to go up. 

As the jet speeded, the girl gripped tightly the seat, her breathing quickening and her heart beating fast. She closed her eyes tightly. She felt something on her hand. Natasha placed her hand above hers, giving her support. She calmed down little by little until they were up. 

The signal of their seatbelts went off. She tried to look outside the window and softly gasped. The view was amazing to her. The lights of Berlin were something else from above. She saw beauty, she saw flickering lights until the clouds made them disappear. A minute later, a flight attendant offered her some juice when she walked by. She gladly accepted it. 

“We still don’t know your name…” Said Clint sometime later, chewing his sandwich loudly. Natasha had given her a tablet and a movie was shown. Something about a national treasure, it really got her attention. A character, Riley Poole, kept talking and something instantly clicked inside her. She paused the movie.

“Riley.” She said, smiling at them. “My name is Riley.”

“If we had given her WALL-E, would she be called Eve? Or WALL-E?” Natasha hit Clint with a paper, Clint pouted and shut up. Riley smiled a bit. 

“Hello Riley,” said Natasha, gaining her attention again. “Would you like to keep playing the movie?” Riley nodded, Natasha played the movie and both of them watched the screen in silence. A few hours later, the girl fell asleep and Natasha smiled at her, covering her with a blanket.


	3. Home

Riley and Natasha had been living together for almost 4 months. The girl was still too shy to make friends, nobody in the neighborhood knew her anyway. Natasha had decided that homeschooling for now was the best for Riley, they didn’t know how much of school she had missed since she lived on the streets. And throwing her suddenly to the lions was just insane. 

Fury and Maria had met her already. Maria loved her, and she said how glad she would be if she needed someone to babysit her; one look and an afternoon with her and she was already part of the ‘I love Riley and will protect her from any harm’ club. Also called: _I’ve only known Riley for a day but if anything happens to her, I would kill everyone on this room and then myself_. Fury kept his opinion to himself, but even Clint could notice how the girl had him wrapped on her little finger. It was obvious in the way his eyes shinned for a bit when he saw her smile a bit, or how his posture was less rigid. 

Clint saw Riley sitting in front of some papers and crayons, she barely acknowledged him. “She still doesn’t talk too much?” He helped Natasha with diner, carrying two big plates of food while she carried Riley’s. 

Natasha flashed him a smile. “Nah, she doesn’t talk to you.” As soon as both adults approached the table, Riley left her stuff on the floor and sat with them. The three of them were enjoying their meals, making small talk until the red head noticed the little girl’s actions. She was pushing her carrots out of the way. “Riley, eat your vegetables.” She said, with a warning tone. 

Riley looked at her and then looked at the vegetables, gulping. She then noticed a plate coming towards her. “Take mine too, you should eat them to be healthy.” Clint pushed his food to her plate and she gasped softly, feeling the situation a little bit unfair. 

Fortunately, Natasha backed her up in this one. “You better take those carrots back, Barton.” Clint laughed for a bit, when he looked at his partner again, she was frowning. No, scratch that, she was glaring at him. Clint ate the vegetables on Riley’s plate as fast as he could. “Good.”

*******

Six months after Riley’s life changed. Natasha and her had spent a lot of time together, whether it was going to the park, staying at home and watch movies, cooking, going grocery shopping, etc. 

That morning, unfortunately, Natasha told her she would be gone for a few days and Maria would be taking care of her. Riley didn’t mind, she knew her mother had to work, she just didn’t know what she did. As long as it gives them money, it was fine. 

As long as she came back, she was definitively fine. 

Riley watched as Rachel complained about her birthday. Watching Friends with Maria was a must, it was their thing, like movies with Natasha or Pictionary with Fury. Or trying to get in the vents of a building with Clint. They hadn’t seen each other in some time since Natasha found them trapped. 

Something bothered her about the birthday cake and the balloons, almost as if she was forgetting something. She stood up and walked to the kitchen, where Natasha kept a calendar. 

Maria silently watched as Riley went away for a few minutes, she stood in front of the horrible calendar Clint gave Natasha last year, it was a SpongeBob calendar. Riley came back and looked like she tried remembering something, frown on her face. Maria turned down the volume. 

“What’s wrong, honey?” She asked. Natasha had mentioned about Riley’s actions. They all new something must had happened to her before, traumatic experiences were often a cause of memory loss and they didn´t want to push her too hard, so they kept an eye on her. “Is something bothering you?”

The little girl was frowning. “I think today is my birthday.” Maria’s eyes opened, Clint and Natasha never asked. They just assume they would celebrate in the day they found her, since she couldn´t remember anything. “September 16th 2002.” Her breathing was quick, she was about to have a panic attack, a sudden light flashed before her eyes, a white room, somewhere else… “I read it somewhere…”

Maria crouched to her level and hugged her. Riley was trembling a lot, making her worry for the little girl. They stayed like that for a few minutes until the adult decided to change the subject, brushing her hair. “7 years? It’s not every day you turn 7.” Riley smiled a bit. “Birthday girl gets to decide what we do.”

The girl was thinking it hard, she then jumped and smiled big time. “Can we go to McDonalds?”

Maria laughed, every kid would ask for something bigger. Disney, Six Flags, meeting a character from a series they loved, etc. “Okay, Riley.” But Riley was not every other kid. And, as far as Maria could tell, none of them would have it other way.


	4. Memories

Clint and her had spent the day discussing about operation C.F.M. aka cake for mom. She said vanilla was the best, but Clint told her chocolate would be better, only because he wanted to eat that. Riley argued too many times, even if she wanted it too, she knew they would have to leave the house to get the chocolate and her mom could come before them. Also, she was the boss now, he had to listen to her.

She refused and started reading the recipe out loud, her uncle tried to follow the steps as the child kept talking and talking. For once, Clint wished she stopped talking like before. The flour, eggs, etc. went flying past in the kitchen into the bowl. 

Riley didn’t even look from the recipe book and introduced the cake to the oven when Clint said he had finally finished. They both seemed happy with their efforts and were to leave the kitchen. What the hell had they put in there? They did not care, it was done and Natasha would be back soon. 

The sound of the door got Riley running and hugging her mom. She congratulated her for her birthday and told her to accompany her to the kitchen. The three of them walked and got just in time to see the cake exploding in the oven. The fire alarm beeping loudly, the kitchen almost on fire and the ‘cake’ everywhere, Natasha had her patience tested. 

Clint and Riley shared a look. They were screwed, it was a good life. For Clint, Riley thought she had recently left the alley, it wasn’t fair to have her life cut so short.

Nat growled, the others flinched and hugged each other, Nat sighed and looked at them. “Whose idea was to make an exploding cake?”

Riley did not dare to look at her, she shrugged, releasing Clint and pointing at him. “The man with the arrows looks pretty guilty to me…”

Oh, how Clint missed when she did not talk…

*******

Fury and Hill had come to visit them that night. Everyone wanted to see her lately, especially after her first day. Coulson had asked her about her first day a few days ago, even though it was 3 months into the school year. 

Clint raided the fridge while Maria tried to think which piece to choose so the Jenga tower wouldn’t fall. Fury kept moving the table a bit, Natasha asked him politely to not move it.

The first time.

The second time, she just grabbed his chair and made him go to the corner of shame. Only Clint has been there, until now. 

As Riley told them somethings she had been doing in school, such as her friend and activities they have participated in, she remembered she had pictures of some days. “I wonder where all the photos of me are.”

Clint got up and went to the living room, crouching a bit. “Natasha has them in here.” He groaned, then got up with a few albums of photos. “She showed them to us some time ago. It’s labeled by date.”

Maria and Fury each grabbed one, Nat had a view over her boss’ shoulder while Riley sided with Hill. She jumped at a picture she recognized and never failed to make her laugh. “This one is from that chaotic road trip with uncle Clint!”

“That is still one of the best days of my life.” Clint brushed a fake tear. 

Natasha had an amused expression on her. “Because of the mess you made? Or because of the corndog?”

“Definitively the corn dog.”


	5. School

17 months together. A year and 5 months. Riley couldn’t believe it yet. Her life was finally full of love, care and comfort since Natasha appeared. Clint was there too, he was a weird uncle figure she could tolerate, unless he pushed her buttons too hard, then he was the bastard that had to leave immediately, as her guardian called him. Maria was her favorite, she always let her have junk food, something Natasha wasn’t happy with, she said she still had to eat her vegetables. Fury occasionally passed by, he would try to make time to see her and talk to her, but nobody was allowed to tell him how she had the power to control him. Nick Fury was his own boss. 

Unless Riley wanted him to play horse, then he would be a horse. 

Anyway, Riley felt everything was perfect. But that didn’t mean she never was anxious about things. Her first day of public school soon came by, Natasha thought it would be best for her, meeting kids her age and making friends that weren’t agents. Heck, she was ready for the lions. _Hopefully…_

Natasha waited by the door, looking at the clock. Riley was still in her room, things being thrown were clearly heard. “Riley?” She asked, looking at the top of the stairs. 

Meanwhile, Riley threw things out of her way, she was frantically looking for something in her room. _They should be here…_ She thought. “Where are my boots?!” She screamed, frustrated. A stuffed animal appeared and she angrily shook it, suffocating it in her imagination. 

“Under your bed, Riley.” Answered Natasha, looking at the little girl torturing the animal. She crouched and took the boots, giving them to Riley. She gladly took them and put them on, but she wanted to ask how the woman made them appear out of nowhere, she had just looked for them there. Natasha smiled and ruffled her hair a bit. Riley frowned. “Let’s go or you’ll be late.” Riley nodded and they both left the house. Natasha locked the house and looked at the girl, watching her boots doubtfully. “School isn’t that bad, Riley, you’ll see.” 

Riley got on the car and kept looking at the window. Natasha had calmed a bit, still, Riley was excited and scared of how the kids would treat her. She knew she wasn’t like them, most of them didn’t have a cool mother figure like her or lived by themselves for over a year. Most of them at least knew what had happened from their 4th birthday to the present day. Yeah, that could be a problem.

A tiny building appeared and she swore she stopped breathing. Kids of all ages were walking by, entering the building after saying goodbye to their parents, who waved at them. Natasha turned off the car and looked at her. Riley was really pale, her eyes wide open and had a funny scared face, her hands were gripping her skirt tightly. Natasha took her little hand and squeezed it. “If something happens, I’ll be right here, okay?” Riley wanted to scream, to cry and beg. She felt she wasn’t ready to do it, she couldn’t do it, no way, she had to leave immediately.

But Natasha had faith in her. If she believed in her, then Riley had nothing to fear. She took a deep breath and gave her a nervous smile. She got out of the car and waved a bit. 

“Bye mom.” She said unconsciously, quickly realizing her mistake. _WAIT, WAIT I NEVER CALLED HER THAT, SHE MIGHT NOT LIKE IT!_Just as the little girl had a meltdown, Natasha was facing her own mind, something along surprise was shown in her face. “I-I mean, uhm…” Riley tried to take it back, not finding the right words. 

The red head left the car, walking to the girl, and hugged her. Riley was shocked but returned the hug nevertheless, sighing and smiling. Natasha took a step back and ruffled her hair. “Bye sweetie, love you.”

Riley laughed a bit. “Love you too.”

As Natasha watched her disappear from her view, she saw how the girl had changed. She saw her smiling and playing like other kids, she saw her trying to let her imagination fly almost every hour they spent together. Still, the girl that was surprised by the world was there. Riley may have changed in a year, but she still was her daughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of my favorite chapters because I love Nat and Riley's slight change of relationship.


	6. After school

“Hi mom!” Riley said as she got in the car and Natasha drove away. 

Natasha tried not to smile too hard when she heard the little girl’s greet. “Hi Riley, how was your day?” Nat asked, taking a turn and going home. 

Riley narrated her day. She started telling what she did immediately after saying goodbye that morning. She was lost for a few seconds until some kids of her class decided to help her. They showed her around and let her take her time to go from class to class. They even organized themselves to make sure Riley wasn’t alone any second of the day, since they all had the same classes all day. “And then we played outside, they told me that I had to wait for you, so I stayed with my new friends.” Riley was smiling and turned to her mother, who had a weird expression on her face. Riley frowned. “Mom?”

“Nothing, I’m just remembering something.” Nat said and ruffled her hair, the pride clear in her face. “So, you would like to come back tomorrow?”

Riley blushed for a second and hid her face. “Yes.” She mumbled quietly. 

Well, she was going there every day from now on, whether she liked it or not.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This entire story will take place before any main event in the MCU, therefore, not everyone is going to be shown here. This is told mostly in Riley's point of view and it describes how Natasha and Clint got to meet her.


End file.
